Money magazine Forbes has catalogued its sixth annual list of highest earning dead celebrities.
This year's list is the first to be headed up by someone other than Elvis Presley. Dead Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain tops the list with posthumous earnings of $50 million. Presley is bumped to second with $42 million. Other musicians to feature in the list include John Lennon at number four, Ray Charles at number eight, Johnny Cash at number ten, George Harrison at twelve and Bob Marley at unlucky thirteen.During his life, Cobain was renowned for his anti-corporate streak but recently his widow Courtney Love has sold off a 25% stake in Nirvana's catalog to Primary Wave Music Publishing, who are pursuing licensing deals which has already seen Nirvana's songs appear in TV shows and movies.
Love's manager told Forbes, "We believe if we say yes to the right things, we can do both-make money and do the right thing for the catalog." He insisted that Nirvana's music is unlikely to be used for explicitly commercial interests, but more likely as soundtrack fodder. Forensic cop show 'CSI: Miami' is already planning an episode revolving around Nirvana tunes.
